Things To Do In SW Florida

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury in Georgia has ordered Monsanto parent Bayer to pay nearly $2.1 billion in damages to a man who says the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, according to attorneys representing the plaintiff.

The verdict marks the latest in a long-running series of court battles Monsanto has faced over its Roundup herbicide. The agrochemical giant says it will appeal the verdict, reached in a Georgia courtroom late Friday, in efforts to overturn the decision.

The penalties awarded include $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages, law firms Arnold & Itkin LLP and Kline & Specter PC said in a statement. That marks one of the largest verdicts in a Roundup-related case to date.

Plaintiff John Barnes filed his lawsuit against Monsanto in 2021, seeking damages related to his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Arnold & Itkin attorney Kyle Findley, the lead trial lawyer on the case, said the verdict will help put his client in a better position to get the treatment he needs going forward. read more

By DAMIAN J. TROISE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in morning trading Monday as Wall Street tries to navigate through the uncertainty of a trade war.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.4%. It is coming off its first winning week after a four-week losing streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 505 points, or 1.2%, as of 10:11 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.7%.

Wall Street remains focused on how tariffs could eventually impact inflation, consumer spending and economic growth. Stocks have been riding waves of hope and worry as tariffs are announced, then either implemented or pulled. A new round of tariffs scheduled to be implemented on April 2 could also be softened or postponed rather than take effect.

Gains on Monday were broad. More than 85% of stocks within the S&P 500 rose. Every sector within the index notched gains.

Technology stocks led the way. The sector has been the driving force behind much of the broader markets movement, whether up or down. The stocks are among the most valuable on Wall Street and tend to have an outsized impact on the broader market’s direction. read more

SpaceX is set to send up a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from the Space Coast that could bring sonic booms across Central Florida on Monday.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the NROL-69 mission is targeting a 1:48 p.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, with a backup possible Tuesday at 1:34 p.m.

The first-stage booster is flying for the second time and will aim for a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1, meaning parts of Central Florida could hear one or more sonic booms.

This would be the 24th launch from the Space Coast in 2025, with all but one coming from SpaceX.

The NRO partnered with U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command for this mission flying under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. NROL-69 was awarded to SpaceX as part of two missions worth $160 million in 2021. It was originally targeted to fly no later than fall of 2023.

The NRO designed, built and will operate the secretive payload, which has an origami hummingbird featured on its mission emblem along with the Latin phrase Numquan Hibernare, meaning “never hibernate.” read more

Why should the grandparents have all the fun?

It turns out plenty of Gen X homebuyers are just as crazy for pickleball, spa services and wine clubs as their Boomer counterparts, and national homebuilders are responding.

Pulte has joined Taylor Morrison in expanding its active adult brand to create all-ages communities with the same enticing combination of amenities and programming. The nation’s third-largest homebuilder announced its not-just-for-retirees Del Webb Explore spin-off on March 3, with the first two resort-style communities planned in Southern California and Tampa Bay.

The phenomenon is also on its way to the Orlando area.

“We’re seeing a convergence of Gen X reaching their peak earning years, with sophisticated tastes shaped by decades of travel and lifestyle experiences,” PulteGroup President and CEO Ryan Marshall said in the announcement. “The extension of the ageless Del Webb brand means we can now offer a product to those who crave a vibrant, active lifestyle, regardless of age.” read more

WASHINGTON — Within the Trump administration’s Defense Department, Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocketry is being trumpeted as the nifty new way the Pentagon could move military cargo rapidly around the world.

In the Commerce Department, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service will now be fully eligible for the federal government’s $42 billion rural broadband push, after being largely shut out during the Biden era.

At NASA, after repeated nudges by Musk, the agency is being squeezed to turn its focus to Mars, allowing SpaceX to pursue federal contracts to deliver the first humans to the distant planet.

And at the Federal Aviation Administration and the White House itself, Starlink satellite dishes have recently been installed, to expand federal government internet access.

Musk, as the architect of a group he called the Department of Government Efficiency, has taken a chain saw to the apparatus of governing, spurring chaos and dread by pushing out some 100,000 federal workers and shutting down various agencies, though the government has not been consistent in explaining the expanse of his power. read more